[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56682-56684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22296]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Public Meetings for the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement for Military
Readiness Activities in the Mariana Islands Training and Testing Study
Area
AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, and regulations implemented by the Council on
Environmental Quality (40 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 1500-1508),
and Presidential Executive Order 12114, the Department of the Navy
(DoN) has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS). The Draft EIS/OEIS evaluates the potential
environmental effects associated with military readiness training and
research, development, test, and evaluation activities (training and
testing) conducted within the Mariana Islands Training and Testing
(MITT) Study
[[Page 56683]]
Area. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the U.S. Air Force,
and the U.S. Coast Guard are cooperating agencies for this EIS/OEIS.
The MITT Study Area is composed of established ranges (at-sea
ranges and land based training areas on Guam and the Commonwealth of
Northern Mariana Islands [CNMI]); operating areas; and special use
airspace in the region of the Mariana Islands that are part of the
Mariana Islands Range Complex (MIRC) and its surrounding seas; includes
a transit corridor between the MIRC and the Hawaii Range Complex; and
Navy pierside locations where sonar maintenance and testing activities
occur.
With the filing of the Draft EIS/OEIS, the DoN is initiating a 60-
day public comment period and has scheduled four public meetings to
receive comments on the Draft EIS/OEIS. This notice announces the dates
and locations of the public meetings and provides supplementary
information about the environmental planning effort.
DATES and ADDRESSES: The 60-day Draft EIS/OEIS public review period
will begin September 13, 2013 and end November 12, 2013. The DoN will
hold four public meetings to inform the public about the Proposed
Action and alternatives under consideration, and to provide an
opportunity for the public to comment on the Proposed Action,
alternatives, and the adequacy and accuracy of the analysis in the
Draft EIS/OEIS. Each of the public meetings will include an open house
information session and an opportunity to present oral comments. DoN
representatives will be available during the public meetings to clarify
information related to the Draft EIS/OEIS. Federal and local agencies
and officials, and interested organizations and individuals are
encouraged to provide comments in writing during the public review
period or in person at one of the scheduled public meetings.
The public meetings will be held between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on
the following dates:
1. October 7, 2013, at the University of Guam, Leon Guerrero School
of Business and Public Administration Building, Anthony Leon Guerrero
Multi-Purpose Room 129, Mangilao, Guam 96923.
2. October 8, 2013, at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in
Susupe, Saipan, MP 96950.
3. October 9, 2013, at the Tinian High School Cafeteria, San Jose
Village, Tinian, MP 96952.
4. October 10, 2013, at the Sinapalo Elementary School Cafeteria,
Sinapalo I, Songsong Village, Rota, MP 96951.
Attendees will be able to submit oral and written comments during
the public meetings. Oral comments from the public will be recorded by
a court reporter. In the interest of available time, and to ensure all
who wish to provide an oral comment to the court reporter have the
opportunity to do so, each speaker's comments will be limited to three
(3) minutes, which may be extended if meeting attendance permits. Equal
weight will be given to oral and written statements. Comments may also
be submitted via the U.S. Postal Service to Naval Facilities
Engineering Command Pacific, Attention: MITT EIS/OEIS Project Manager,
258 Makalapa Drive, Suite 100, Pearl Harbor, HI 96860-3134, or
electronically via the project Web site (www.MITT-EIS.com). All
comments, oral or written, submitted during the public review period
will become part of the public record on the Draft EIS/OEIS and will be
responded to in the Final EIS/OEIS. All public comments must be
postmarked or received by November 12, 2013, Chamorro Standard Time
(ChST) to ensure they become part of the official record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Pacific, Attention: MITT EIS/OEIS Project Manager, 258 Makalapa Drive,
Suite 100, Pearl Harbor, HI 96860-3134.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Intent to prepare this Draft
EIS/OEIS was published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2011
(Vol. 76, No. 174, pp. 55653-55654).
The DoN's Proposed Action is to conduct training and testing
activities, which may include the use of active Sound Navigation and
Ranging (sonar) and explosives, primarily in established operating and
military warning areas of the MITT Study Area. The Proposed Action also
includes pierside sonar maintenance and testing alongside Navy piers
located in Inner Apra Harbor, and land-based training activities at
existing ranges and other training locations on Guam and the CNMI.
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to achieve and maintain
military readiness to meet the requirements of Title 10 of the U.S.
Code, thereby ensuring that the DoN and other military services
accomplish their mission to maintain, train, and equip combat-ready
military forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, and
maintaining freedom of the seas. This Draft EIS/OEIS will also support
the renewal of federal regulatory permits and authorizations for
current training and testing activities and to propose future
activities requiring environmental analysis.
The Draft EIS/OEIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts of
three alternatives, including the No Action Alternative. The No Action
Alternative continues baseline training and testing activities, and
airspace and seaspace reconfigurations, as defined by existing
environmental planning documents. Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative)
consists of the No Action Alternative, plus adjustments to the Study
Area boundaries and to the types and levels of training and testing
activities as necessary to support current and planned requirements.
This alternative consists of activities conducted throughout the Study
Area and mission requirements associated with force structure changes,
including those resulting from the development, testing, and ultimate
introduction of new vessels, aircraft, and weapons systems into the
Fleet. Alternative 2 consists of all activities that would occur under
Alternative 1, plus additional adjustments to the types and levels of
training and testing activities. Alternative 2 is contingent upon
potential budget increases, strategic necessity, and future training
and testing requirements.
In this EIS/OEIS, the DoN analyzes potential impacts on
environmental resources resulting from activities under the
alternatives. Resources evaluated include sediments and water quality,
air quality, marine habitats, marine mammals, sea turtles, marine
birds, marine vegetation, marine invertebrates, fish, terrestrial
species and habitats, cultural resources, socioeconomic resources, and
public health and safety.
DoN is requesting from NMFS a Marine Mammal Protection Act
incidental take authorization and governing regulations for the
incidental take of marine mammals that may result from the
implementation of the activities analyzed in the Draft EIS/OEIS. In
accordance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, the DoN is
consulting with NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the
potential impacts of training and testing activities on federally
listed species. In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the DoN is consulting with NMFS on
federally managed species and their essential fish habitat.
The Draft EIS/OEIS was distributed to Federal and local agencies,
elected officials, and other interested organizations and individuals.
Copies of the Draft EIS/OEIS are also available for public review at
the following public libraries:
[[Page 56684]]
1. University of Guam Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library,
Government Documents Tan Siu Lin Building, University of Guam Station,
Mangilao, GU 96923.
2. Tinian Public Library, P.O. Box 520704, Tinian, MP 96952.
3. Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, Insatto St., Beach Road, Susupe P.O.
Box 501092, Saipan, MP 96950.
4. Nieves M. Flores Memorial Public Library, 254 Martyr St.,
Hagatna, GU 96910.
5. Rota Public Library, P.O. Box 537, Rota, MP 96951.
The Draft EIS/OEIS is also available for electronic viewing at
www.MITT-EIS.com. A compact disc of the Draft EIS/OEIS will be made
available upon written request by contacting: Naval Facilities
Engineering Command Pacific, Attention: MITT EIS/OEIS Project Manager,
258 Makalapa Drive, Suite 100, Pearl Harbor, HI 96860-3134.
Dated: September 5, 2013.
N.A. Hagerty-Ford,
Commander, Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy, Federal
Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-22296 Filed 9-12-13; 8:45 am]
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